MADHYA PRADESH TO FASTTRACK GIS 2023 INVESTMENT PROPOSALS

With the Global Investors Summit 2023 proving to be a major success by way of global participation and solid investment proposals, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is leading the Madhya Pradesh Government from the frontline in facilitating the implementation of the various investment proposals that were signed during the summit and in the runup to it. The immediate objective that CM Chouhan has set before the state is to leverage the Rs. 15.50 lakh crore investments signed up during GIS 2023 to transform MP into a 550 billion economy by 2026.

he two-day MP GIS 2023 event that was held in Indore during January 11 & 12 witnessed truly global participation with representatives and business leaders from 84 countries attending it. As many as 10 nations were official partner countries for the event, including Japan, Canada, Neitherland, Guyana, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Surinam, Panama & Fiji.

Top ranking participants in MP GIS 2023 included Presidents of two countries, and Ambassadors, Consulate Generals & Deputy Chiefs of Mission of 35 countries. On the business side, around 450 international business delegates including CXO level corporate leaders and around 400 global buyers & sellers participated in the event.

Heavy participation was witnessed from various geographies, including European Union and Africa, with the delegates of India Africa Trade Council participating actively. There was also a high level of participation by Non Resident Indians (NRIs) in the event, partly due to the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas being held in Indore, just prior to the investment meet.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan directly reviewed the outcome and further follow-up from the GIS 2023 and has taken several decisions for fast tracking the implementation of the various investment proposals. Under these guidelines, Madhya Pradesh’s plug and play facility will be further strengthened, while no permission will be required for setting up projects in identified and notified industrial areas.

Inspection too will be waived for a period of three years in Madhya Pradesh. The state’s single window clearance system will continue to work as a separate facility. CM Chouhan also made it clear that his hugely successful initiative of meeting with investors on every

Monday is to be continued, while weekly review would be done for the follow-up of all the recent investment proposals.

Madhya Pradesh’s Department of Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion has been designated by the CM as the nodal department for doing the follow-up on all MP GIS 2023 proposals, while the individual department level reviews will also be done periodically. During the review meeting, the CM noted that the event saw hitherto unseen enthusiasm among investors, and congratulated all the officers concerned and exhorted them to make sure that GIS 2023 continues to be the rising sun in the state’s future prospects.

Madhya Pradesh’s strategy of playing to its strengths seems to have delivered big for the state in MP GIS 2023. Under CM Chouhan’s guidance, the summit had given priority to sectors in which MP has significant strengths including agriculture, food processing, textiles, pharmaceuticals, logistics, automobile, renewable energy and IT. The plug and play facility that was already available to the IT & ITES sector, is now being extended to the garments sector.

The state received investment proposals worth Rs.15.50 lakh crore during GIS 2023, and the sector-wise split-up has been Rs. 6 lakh crore in renewable energy, Rs. 2.80 lakh crore in urban infrastructure, Rs. 1 lakh crore in agriculture and food processing, Rs.1 lakh crore in mineral based industries, Rs. 78,000 crore in IT & electronics sectors, Rs. 77,000 crore in chemicals & petroleum, and Rs. 71,000 crore in the services sector. Of these, the urban infrastructure projects alone have the potential of creating over 4 lakh jobs.

The Chief Minister has announced that the near term target for the state would be to make itself a 550 billion economy by 2026. With a population of 8.5 crore citizens, CM Chouhan has explained that it is very much possible, if their 17 crore hands contribute something worthwhile to the state in their own capacity, even if it is just planting a sapling for the future. ome’s Pantheon stands defiant 2,000 years after it was built, its marble floors sheltered under the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. For decades, researchers have probed samples from Roman concrete structures—tombs, breakwaters, aqueducts, and wharves—to find out why these ancient buildings endure when modern concrete may crumble after only a few decades.

Madhya Pradesh indeed is a state with staggering potential. MP is in the very heartland of India, and the 2nd largest state in India by area. Economically, it is one of the fastest growing states with annual GSDP growth of over 8% CAGR over the last decade. Madhya Pradesh Government has worked diligently over the past decade to develop the state as an industrial hub and promote it as a high potential investment destination.

During the last five years alone, the state government has made an investment of more than $15.4 billion for creating advanced support infrastructure. The state enjoys excellent connectivity to India’s largest cities and markets including New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Kolkata, by air, road and rail.

The state has an extensive road and rail network, with 2,30,000 km of roads, including over 40 national highways, and over 550 daily trains passing through the state. The state is also connected to all major metro cities by air. To leverage its central and strategic location and overcome the challenges of being a landlocked economy the state has developed 7 Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and is also developing Multi Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs).

Madhya Pradesh Government has made ready over 95 sprawling industrial parks that offer ready industrial infrastructure, complete with online and GIS based land allotment. The state government’s ease of business services have caught the attention of global investors in GIS 2023, as over 45 services and approvals from 12 departments are provided to investors within 30 days of application through a single window clearance system.

SCIENTISTS LEARN SURPRISING SECRETS OF MAKING CONCRETE THAT LASTS THOUSANDS OF YEARS FROM ROME'S PANTHEON. MIT EXPERTS HAVE UNCOVERED THE ROMAN RECIPE FOR SELF-REPAIRING CEMENT — WHICH COULD MASSIVELY REDUCE THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF THE MATERIAL TODAY.

In a recent study, scientists have got closer to the answer—and their findings could reverberate long into the future. Not only is Roman concrete exponentially more durable than modern concrete, but it can also repair itself. Creating a modern equivalent that lasts longer than existing materials could reduce climate emissions and become a key component of resilient infrastructure, like seawalls. Currently, concrete is second only to water as the world’s most consumed material, and making it accounts for about 7 percent of global emissions.

“We are dealing with extremely complex material,” says Admir Masic, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who led this new research on Roman concrete. “To kind of reverseengineer or understand the original way these civilizations made this material is just a nightmare.”

Until now, efforts to explain the longevity of Roman concrete have pointed to its use of volcanic tephra—the fragments of rock emitted in an eruption—mined in the Naples area and shipped to construction sites throughout the sprawling Roman empire. But Masic and his MIT colleagues, along with researchers from Harvard and laboratories in Italy and Switzerland, suggest another reason: heat. Using a number of different scanning techniques, they examined a sample from a city wall in Privernum, a 2,000-year-old archaeological site near Rome, focusing on millimeter-scale white chunks running through the sample, called lime clasts. These are not found in modern concrete.

“Every wall made out of Roman concrete will have these inclusions,” Masic says, who in the past has looked at structures across Israel, North Africa, Italy, France, and Spain. Previously the lime clasts were thought to be a product of not mixing the concrete properly, Masic explains. But the team’s scanning revealed that the clasts were formed at extremely high temperatures, and are made from various forms of calcium

“WE ARE DEALING WITH EXTREMELY COMPLEX MATERIAL,” SAYS ADMIR MASIC, A RESEARCHER AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY WHO LED THIS NEW RESEARCH ON ROMAN CONCRETE. “ carbonate. They contain a kind of calcium that Masic’s team theorized could heal cracks by reacting with water, creating a solution that recrystallizes in fissures to fill them in. That calcium, he says, could be the “missing link” explaining the material’s durability.

The question, then, was where the necessary heat came from to make those clasts. It had been thought that Roman concrete was created by combining water with a calcium compound called slaked lime. But what if the Romans used lime in a more reactive form, called quicklime, Masic wondered. When mixed with water, quicklime reacts and produces heat.

To test the theory, his team created concrete both with and without quicklime. They then cracked the blocks they had created and ran water through the fissures. Only the cracks in the concrete made with quicklime closed up—they had found the recipe for the self-repairing material.

Patents have now been secured by MIT. Masic says a company will begin producing what he calls Roman-inspired concrete by year’s end. “Translating this knowledge of the ancient world into modern applications, I think that’s the next step,” he says. “These cracks are healed in two to three weeks using ingredients that are readily available and, most importantly, cheap.”

Masic’s paper is the latest in a string of investigations into Roman concrete. Last year, he published research with Marie Jackson, a researcher at the University of Utah, that examined the 70-foot-tall tomb of first-century Roman noblewoman Caecilia Metella on the Appian Way, an ancient Roman road that runs across Italy. Their investigation revealed that the particular formation of Roman concrete used in the tomb interacts with rainwater and groundwater, becoming more resilient over time.

And in earlier work, Jackson and her colleagues produced an exact replica of a similar concrete, used 1,900 years ago to build the Markets of Trajan in Rome, and developed an innovative fracture test to better measure its resilience, showing that it is far less brittle than modern concrete. Jackson also studied cores drilled from concrete in Roman harbors, determining that seawater moving through the concrete reacts with it to create new minerals that make the concrete more cohesive and resilient over time.

Jackson has some concerns about Masic’s new paper, however. The sample it analyzed is undated, and it contains sand instead of the volcanic tephra typically used—the sample therefore isn’t representative of Roman concrete, she says. In response, Masic says his team plans to analyze other sites “to confirm our hypothesis” that the Romans used quicklime in their concrete recipe—known as hot mixing. Masic’s team also wants to look in more detail at the influence hot mixing had on how the Romans built their structures.

So has Masic actually solved the mystery of how Roman concrete was made? “Who knows?” he says. “What I do know is we were able to translate some of these concepts into the real world. That’s what really excites me the most.” There’s the potential now to build better concrete, regardless of whether it is strictly “Roman” or not.

This recipe and process were lost over a millennium ago. No similar concrete existed until Joseph Aspdin of Great Britain took out a patent in 1824 for a material produced from a mixture of limestone and clay. He called it Portland cement because it resembled Portland stone, a limestone used for building in England.

Modern concrete is made from fragments of rock combined with Portland cement—a mixture of limestone, clay or shale, and other ingredients ground and burned at 1,450 degrees Celsius (2,642 degrees Fahrenheit). That process creates an enormous amount of greenhouse gas and leaves you with concrete that’s not durable, degrading sometimes in as little as 50 years, especially in marine environments. Roman concrete, in comparison, is strong, requiring no steel reinforcing it, unlike its modern counterpart. And it’s relatively cheap.

Concrete infrastructure today, such as roads, cost six to 10 times their initial price when factoring in repairs over their lifespan, says Joseph King, who recently left his position as a program director at the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-e), where he created and ran the cement program. So extending the life of concrete made today, even by just a few times its life expectancy, would dramatically reduce demand and lower greenhouse emissions. “When you lay a new freeway, a pothole shows up every three years,” King says. “If you now only have to fill your potholes every 10 years or 20 years, it’s a better material.” Having concrete that survives for 2,000 years isn’t necessary to make a big difference.

On this front, Masic’s and Jackson’s labs are working with entrepreneurs interested in bringing their versions of Roman concrete to market. Jackson’s team, for instance, has collaborated with an industry partner to create a synthetic version of the volcanic tephra the Romans mined, because of the tremendous volume that will be needed.

After years and years of pursuing an answer, Jackson is happy the quest is generating interest. “What’s really important and valuable is that the topic of Roman concrete is now in the media,” she says. “This is an incredibly sophisticated and complex material. The people who made it were so brilliant, and so precise in what they did, that it has taken us 15 years of work to decipher much of this. And we are humbled by how much more we have to learn.”

(Credit: Jim Morrison for Wired)

MUCH LIKE HOW THE AAP GOVERNMENT WAS A REFRESHING CHANGE IN THE STATE WHEN IT CAME TO POWER 10 MONTHS BACK, THE FIRST INVESTORS SUMMIT UNDER CHIEF MINISTER BHAGWANT MANN’S LEADERSHIP ALSO PROVED TO BE A BIG REFRESHING CHANGE.

It was the fifth time that Punjab went for its investors summit. But the 5th edition of the Progressive Punjab Investors Summit was the first time this event was held under the AAP government that was voted to power almost a year back.

The two-day event held on February 22 & 23 at Indian School of Business campus in Mohali, has proved to be a major success and will undoubtedly go a long way in the economic progress of Punjab in the coming years and decades.

Just like how the Chief Minister had promised that the pre-event investment flow was only a premonsoon shower and that a full-fledged monsoon awaited the state during the event, there was a deluge of proposals in all sectors that matter for the state like manufacturing, textiles, agriculture, food processing and more.

The summit includes well-structured exhibitions on the achievements and potential of various sectors in the state including Textiles, IT, ESDM & Startups, Healthcare, Green Energy & Sustainability, Tourism & Hospitality, and Entertainment.

Altogether, it was a well-planned event, and the hard work that the CM did and led his team to do were evident throughout the event.No effort was spared in making fool-proof arrangements and it came in handy as several global delegates of VIP stature attended the event.

Under CM’s direct directive, the top-level officers also made sure that Punjab’s entrepreneurs were facilitated in groups as well as in one-to-one meetings with the visiting international experts and delegates. The entire team can be proud of the event as the Brand Punjab was upheld throughout the event as per CM’s wish.

His team takes up such suggestions earnestly as the Chief Minister himself had made it a point to lead from the frontlines by meeting industry leaders during his visits to various cities, including Bangalore, Mumbai & Hyderabad, to seek investment in the state.

He seems to have made a special rapport with the Telengana CM during his visit. Apart from learning about Telengana’s success spree in attracting massive investments, CM Mann also made it a point to study about the state’s noted irrigation reforms, which will come in handy for him while leading his state which still has a sizeable agrarian economy.

During the first 11 months of his rule as the Punjab Chief Minister, Bhagwant Mann had led the state in attracting Rs. 38,175 crore in new investments with a potential to create 2.43 lakh jobs. While this is similar in scale to other best performing states in India, CM Mann’s achievement is noted for its geographic inclusivity, well balanced growth across buzzing sectors, employment generation, and above all its transparency.

The young and dynamic chief minister had recently come out with the finer details of the investments so far attracted under his rule. The real estate, housing and infrastructure sector has received investment proposals worth Rs. 11,853 crore, which will generate 1.22 lakh jobs.

In the manufacturing sector, which is a traditional stronghold of the state, investment proposals worth Rs. 5,981 crore have been committed and will generate 39,952 jobs. Alloy steel and steel sector has attracted investments of Rs. 3,889 crore and will be creating 9,257 jobs.

DURING THE FIRST 11 MONTHS OF HIS RULE AS THE PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER, BHAGWANT MANN HAS LED THE STATE IN ATTRACTING RS. 38,175 CRORE IN NEW INVESTMENTS WITH A POTENTIAL TO CREATE 2.43 LAKH JOBS.

Another buzzing sector of the state is textiles, technical textiles, apparels & made-up sector which has firmed up investments worth Rs. 3,305 crore and comes with a commitment of creating 13,753 jobs.

The state which is most famous for agriculture will see its agri, food processing and beverages sector attracting investments worth Rs. 2,854 core that will provide 16,638 jobs. The remaining investments worth Rs. 2157 crore is from the healthcare sector which will generate 4,510 jobs.

The new projects will also take investments into every nook and corner of Punjab, and not just in its largest cities like Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar & Patiala. For instance, Mohali has attracted investments worth Rs. 9,794 crore which will generate 68,061 jobs, while Ropar has bagged investments worth Rs. 9,319 crore that will deliver 3,172 jobs.

While his detractors were surprised by CM Bhagwant Mann’s achievement of attracting Rs. 38,175 crore in new investments so far with a potential to create 2.43 lakh jobs, this former actor, comedian & satirist has asserted that this is just the beginning.

Even his enemies would have to grudgingly agree as the state has recently been selected as a ‘Top Achiever’ in the ‘Ease of Doing Business in India’ index.

During the first eleven months of its rule, the AAP Government has been successful in giving government jobs to over 26,000 people in the state. The focus that CM Bhagwant Mann has on employment generation is seen also in his other welfare measures.

Recently, he had led an initiative to shut down several toll plazas on Punjab’s highways that have been keeping on collecting tolls for several years now. According to the CM, this will amount to more than Rs. 10 lakhs in daily savings for the people of Punjab.

And keeping true to his AAP roots, CM Mann had earlier overseen the launch of 500 Mohalla Clinics in Amritsar. Mohalla Clinics that offer free or heavily subsidized treatments to the people has been a trump card of AAP in Delhi, where it first stormed to power in India.

He has also shown his unique nationalistic trait when he categorically made it clear that Punjab won’t be doing any new business initiatives with Pakistan, come what may. The reason the Chief Minister cited for it was quite persuasive - that

Pakistan was daily trying to push massive quantities of narcotic drugs into his state.

Indeed, in recent years, Punjab has been reeling from an onslaught of drugs, and this is the first time a Chief Minister has unequivocally taken such a massive stand against India’s troublemaking neighbour, with whom the state has a long and treacherous border.

The CM has also been lobbying hard with the Central Government for meeting his state’s vital needs. Coal, for instance, is an industrial fuel that Punjab is heavily dependent upon, and the timely access to coal supply has been an Achilles heel in Punjab’s development.

After studying this issue in-depth recently, the CM has now demanded for trains to be allotted to Punjab for ferrying coal into the state in a timely manner, which is a facility that many other states in India enjoy with regard to coal.

Under the leadership of Bhagwant Mann, several poll promises like free electricity, Aam Aadmi Clinic, farmer welfare, international training to teachers, reasonable and affordable sand for construction, employment opportunities for youth, ensuring the dignity of martyrs and ensuring corruption free governance have been implemented, during the 11 months it has been in office.